Louth Contemporary Music Society presents the world premiere of The Louth Work by James Dillon at Drogheda Arts Festival 2017.
Louth Contemporary Music Society continues to offer Irish audiences unique experiences in contemporary music with its presentation of the first performance of a new work by James Dillon. James Dillon is one of the UK’s most internationally celebrated and performed composers. Dillon’s The Louth Work: Orphic Fragments will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of this year’s Drogheda Arts Festival. Performed by Ireland’s top contemporary music group, Crash Ensemble with soprano Peyee Chen conducted by Sinead Hayes, this performance promises a stimulating adventure into the most contemporary sounds in new music. Tickets €10 available here or on the door on the night.
The world premiere of the new work takes place in St. Peter’s Church of Ireland Drogheda at 8pm on Saturday 29 April 2017.
The Louth Work: Orphic Fragments sets ancient texts, attributed to Orpheus himself, interspersed with poetry from Petrarch, Apollinaire and Allen Ginsberg. The words are explored and dissected, spoken and whispered as well as sung. Dillon accompanies the voice with an ensemble of five instrumentalists, fully exploiting the wide range of textures and colours they offer. Extended performing techniques, unusual percussion sounds and innovative electronics all contribute to the unique soundworld of this rich and engaging aural tapestry. The programme also includes Jennifer Walshe’s Three Songs by Ukeoirn O’Connor.
Sinead Hayes will conduct Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s foremost contemporary music ensemble; a group of world-class musicians who play the most adventurous, ground-breaking new music of today. Crash Ensemble will be joined by the stupendous soprano Peyee Chen.
Tickets €10 available from www.droghedaartsfestival.ie, www.eventbrite.ie or on the door on the night.
Funded by the Arts Council and Create Louth. The Louth Work: Orphic Fragments is an Arts Council funded commission.
More details www.louthcms.org.
Notes:
James Dillon Composer
James Dillon’s work spans all genres from solos to chamber music, orchestral to opera. The recipient of many of prizes and awards including the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis and the Japan Foundation Artist Scholarship, he has also won an unprecedented four Royal Philharmonic Society awards, and was most recently awarded a BASCA British Composer Award for Stabat Mater dolorosa in 2015. He has been a guest lecturer at many universities throughout the world, and was named 2001 New York University Distinguished International Visitor. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Huddersfield and in the same year he was appointed Professor of Composition at the University of Minnesota.
Crash Ensemble
An Irish new-music collective with international cachet and considerable chops.The Washington Post, 2011
Performing worldwide, from the Edinburgh International Festival to Carnegie Hall, with artists as diverse as Íarla Ó Lionáird (The Gloaming), Bryce Dessner (The National), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Sam Amidon and Gavin Friday, Crash has made an indelible mark on the Irish music scene and beyond.
Founded in 1997 by composer and artistic partner Donnacha Dennehy, Crash has worked with some of the most distinctive living composers including Terry Riley, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Louis Andriessen, Arnold Dreyblatt, Kevin Volans, Glen Branca, Nico Muhly and Gerald Barry.Crash have recordings on NMC, Cantaloupe, Nonesuch and upcoming on the Icelandic Bedroom Community label.
Peyee Chen Soprano
Peyee Chen (b. Taipei, Taiwan) is a soprano with a particular interest in contemporary and Baroque music. Her solo appearances have included concerts with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble, Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble, and at the Lucerne Festival—with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and Barbara Hannigan. Peyee also regularly performs with the BBC Singers, EXAUDI and Schola Heidelberg. Recent engagements have included performances at the BBC Proms, Spitalfields Festival, Ruhrtriennale and the Aldeburgh Festival with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Oliver Knussen. Upcoming performances include Prometeo by Luigi Nono with Schola Heidelberg, Ensemble Modern, Experimentalstudio des SWR and Ingo Metzmacher at the Ruhrtriennale and the Philharmonie de Paris. Peyee can be heard on recordings released by Naxos, empreintes DIGITALes and GB records.
Sinead Hayes Conductor
Galway born conductor Sinead Hayes studied conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, and violin and composition at City University London. In 2015 Sinead was awarded a scholarship from the Peter Eotvos foundation enabling her to participate in a conducting masterclass and concerts in Hungary and Germany with Peter Eotvos and Zsolt Nagy. In previous seasons, in addition to her work with the Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, she has conducted RTE National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra, as well as numerous orchestras in the UK and Europe. Sinead is currently based in Berlin.
